U.S. national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann has no choice but to expect a tough outing Friday night in Antigua (7 p.m. ET, beIN Sport), where the Americans will play the penultimate match of a semifinal stage that has turned out to be far tougher than expected.

Since defeating Antigua and Barbuda, 3-1, in Tampa in early June, the U.S. has scored just three goals in three World Cup qualifiers. At 2-1-1, Klinsmann’s squad is tied with Jamaica and Guatemala atop its four-team group. Antigua trails at 0-3-1. The first- and second-place finishers will move on to next year’s final round.

The U.S. is expected to be one of those teams. But the manager now is resigned to the fact that getting there won’t be easy.

"This is a team that has done very well in our qualifying group, even though they only have one point,” Klinsmann said this week of the Benna Boys. “It’s going to be a difficult game because, for them, it’s the game of the decade. They want to prove everything against the United States. We will tell that to the players from Day 1. We have to go in there with the right mindset and with the right mentality and take care of it.”

It’s going to have to be a mentality different then the one the U.S. took to Jamaica last month, when it tried to play a possession game despite a lack of width in the formation and a bumpy field ill-suited to ball control. The Americans’ failure to adapt resulted in an historic 2-1 defeat.

On Friday night, the visitors’ ability to maintain its composure, handle the conditions (weather, field and a packed Antigua defense) and play to their strengths will determine whether the U.S. heads into the Oct. 16 finale against Guatemala on a high or facing the realistic possibility of World Cup elimination.

Sporting News looks at a three keys to Friday’s game at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua:

COMPENSATING FOR INJURIES

Both U.S. left backs, Fabian Johnson (flu) and Edgar Castillo (foot) are out. The squad’s top two outside midfielders, Landon Donovan (knee) and Brek Shea (abdominal strain), are unavailable as well.

Klinsmann took a risk by using roster spots on players carrying nagging injuries. Now, the pressure is on to make the right choices in their absences.

Either captain Carlos Bocanegra or Michael Parkhurst is likely to play at left back. Both should be fine defensively, but neither possesses the speed or overlapping ability that helped the U.S. climb out if its funk and defeat Jamaica, 1-0, last month in Columbus.

In midfield, Klinsmann will have the services of Michael Bradley, who missed both September qualifiers. But the coach must put the right pieces around him. Jermaine Jones continue to struggle in possession, Danny Williams hasn’t looked good on the flanks and Sacha Kljestan and Graham Zusi, who might be the most attractive remaining options in a wider role, aren’t traditional wingers and haven’t spent much time in Klinsmann’s system.

SERVICING THE STRIKERS

Someone is going to have to score a goal. In last month’s win over Jamaica in Columbus, the U.S. couldn’t make translate its possession to the scoresheet and wound up needing a second-half free kick from Herculez Gomez to secure the three points.

Klinsmann said he expects Antigua to put players behind the ball and defend. There won’t be much room for the U.S. forwards to operate, which means teammates must be precise in service. Reports on Thursday that Antigua’s leading scorer, Peter Byers (second in the world with 10 qualifying goals), might miss the match with an injury suggest the Benna Boys will adopt an even more conservative posture.

Klinsmann has suggested that he might ask his team to concentrate less on keeping the ball and more on simply serving it into the penalty area.

"We haven’t seen the field yet, but anything can happen there in Antigua in terms of the field and conditions,” the coach said. “We need to be aware of that and we need to find ways to break them down. We need to find ways to score goals and we need to adjust. ... They will probably get a lot of numbers in their box or in front of their box to play more defensive against us, so we need to force things with crosses coming over the wings and be really strong in the air. That was the reason we brought in Eddie (Johnson) and Alan (Gordon), two guys into the squad that are really good in the air and that can lay balls off.”

If the game evolves that way, it’s going to messy. Gomez, Clint Dempsey and the rest of Klinsmann’s attacking players are going to have to fight to get on the end of whatever imperfect passes come their way in order to create scoring chances.

SET-PIECE DOMINANCE

The U.S. has lived and died on free kicks the past three games. Guatemala scored a late equalizer in the 1-1 draw in June on a free kick. Jamaica got both goals in last month’s 2-1 win over the U.S. on free kicks, and Gomez responded in Columbus with his own set-piece strike.

If the U.S. can’t keep the ball and insists on trying to play through the muddied middle rather than go long, it likely will have to deal with the sort of turnovers and counterattacks that led to Jamaica’s two goals in Kingston. If the Americans can move the ball through the likes of Bradley, Dempsey and Zusi and draw a few fouls in the offensive third, they will get their own chances to test the Benna Boys goalkeeper or search for the likes of Johnson and Gordon.

As Klinsmann hinted, the time to show style and win with flair are over. A win Friday is critical, and the U.S. must master the sport’s nitty-gritty to get it.